Dark Horse announced at Book Expo America this weekend that it has acquired the rights to three new manga series and is in discussions to acquire a comic series based on the work of Michael Chabon.  All of the manga will be released in right-to-left 5' x 7' trade paperback format.

The Ring, starting in November, is based on the horror novels by Koji Suzuki.  It will feature story by Hiroshi Takahashi and art by Misao Inagaki.  The property has previously reached America in a Western adaptation of the film and the dubbed Japanese version.  304 pages at $14.95

Trigun is part of the Adult Swim block on Cartoon Network, and the manga will find a ready audience when the series starts in November.  Story and art are by Yasuhiro Nightow.  360 pages at $14.95.

Hellsing has story and art by Kouta Hirano and will kick off in December at $13.95 for 208 pages.  The anime has been released in the U.S. by Pioneer. 

Dark Horse is in discussions with Michael Chabon to produce comic material featuring characters created by Chabon in The Amazing Adventures of Cavalier and Clay, with stories set in the style of various comic book eras from the 1940s to today.  Chabon is expected to guide the direction of the series as well as contributing to writing original stories.  Other writers and artists will also contribute to the project, which will probably launch in early 2004.